Unleaguefathomable

Thanks to the vagaries of the international postage system, the film I planned to review hasn’t arrived yet; as a consequence, the little history lesson I had in mind is now emerging out of order. However, I figured any posting was better than none…literally none, since everyone else seems to be suffering from PBFLD (Post-B-Fest Letdown Disorder). I, alas, haven’t that excuse. So—

Even as early as 1955, even before there was such a thing as AIP, its progenitor company was churning out films with what would soon be recognisible as its trademarks: outrageously inaccurate advertising, threadbare production values, a half-baked screenplay and a crappy, crappy monster. Just how crappy? Let me put it this way: this one was evidently arrested and charged with impersonating a sea-serpent.

23 Comments

I’d complain you showed the monster in the preview pick, but considering how long the movie waited… I have always felt sad that I didn’t have a good monster movie host show on tv when I grew up so I could see movies like this. Sigh. Thank god for cheap DVDs.

What this film needed was a director that knew how to direct. The elements are there, but everything is just so lethargic and flat. And I’m inclined to think that a less goofy-looking monster would have made things worse, rather than better (see also “The Giant Claw Hypothesis”).

I have watched so many of these cheapo 50s monster flicks that I literally have no idea whether I’ve seen this or not. I think so, I think it’s on one of those 50 movie dvd packs in glorious VHS-transfer-o-vision. It’s one of those films that you start off with enthusiam, which quickly drains away when you realise it’s going to be 70 odd minutes of men in suits and women in pointy bras standing around cheap office sets declaiming at eachother, and only about 10 minutes of anything that could be described as ‘action’

Thank you both. No, I’m in Sydney, midway between the fires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland, keeping my head down and my big mouth shut.
Not a strong presence, SS, but they’re out there. I don’t usually make cracks like that, but I did recently have an encounter at an extraordinarily bad moment and the rankle is still there, I guess.

It’s my understanding that the rowboat got points on the back end and followed up its tour-de-force here with a highly lucrative multi-picture deal, quickly cementing its role as one of the hottest, most in-demand watercraft in showbiz. By year’s end, the Official Rowboat Fan Club boasted a membership over 500,000 strong, and the product endorsement deals were rolling in by the truckload.

Kinda makes you appreciate the work of Paul Blaisdell a little more if anything else. But in all honesty, the true, unsung heroes of American International were Al Kallis and Reynolds Brown. And if you don’t know who they are then get yourself to Google post haste.

I read El Santo’s comment and saw “Monster from Piedras Blancas” and “sex scandal” and the first thing that came to my mind was something involving the monster from that movie and the one from “She Creature.”